Young people in Lincoln given holiday debt advice

Partners from Lincoln Against Poverty’s ‘Say no to high cost borrowing’ campaign are joined in the city centre by Mayor of Lincoln, Councillor Brent Charlesworth. Photo: Stuart Wilde

City of Lincoln Council apprentices will join together to promote safe and responsible borrowing in the build-up to Christmas and in the New Year.

‘The Spend Wisers’ will use money awarded by the Money for Life programme to show people aged 16 to 24 how to prevent getting themselves into debt.

The campaign aims to educate people on money matters, including budgeting, and deter the use of high interest lenders such as payday loan companies and illegal loan sharks.

The group will use their budget in advertising through a poster campaign, leaflets, audio disks, talks, social media, local media and presentations.

Jane Newman, Work Based Learning Manager at the city council, said: “This is an excellent and innovative opportunity for apprentices and young people to support others in raising awareness around responsible borrowing.

“The scheme offers people the chance to suggest preventative measures around debt. This is a major concern locally and will be a positive step forward.”

Project Lead, Jason Dobbs, added: “The Spend Wisers are dedicated to promoting safer ways of borrowing money. We want to help to prevent people getting into debt and educate that money matters, particularly in the build-up to Christmas and throughout the year.

“We hope that people will benefit from services such as Lincolnshire Credit Union and take advantage of what’s on offer – ultimately our aim is to reduce the number of people who find themselves getting into financial trouble in the future.”

One of the city council’s priorities is to protect the poorest people in Lincoln and is currently running a ‘Say no to high cost borrowing’ campaign through its work on the Anti-Poverty Strategy.